Hollywood chef heads to Zimbabwe

American chef and television personality Carla Hall

American chef and television personality Carla Hall is heading to Zimbabwe in August this year.

Hall, who appeared in the fifth and eighth seasons of Top Chef, Top Chef All Stars and Bravo’s cooking competition show, is coming courtesy of Hollywood-based Zimbabwean celebrity make-up artist, Jackie Mgido.

Speaking to Standard Style in Harare recently, Mgido said Hall will train women chefs how to prepare food that has a “Hollywood touch” to it.

“In August I am bringing some of the Hollywood chefs to Zimbabwe, not only to see the country but also to let Zimbabwe know that they are being seen in Hollywood,” Mgido said.

“Chef Carla Hall is coming to teach Zimbabwean women how to make food that is authentic to Zimbabwe, but that has a Hollywood touch.”

Hall currently hosts Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship, she is a chef, best-selling author who has published cook books titled Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Every day and Celebration,  Carla’s Comfort Food: Favourite Dishes from Around the World and Cooking with Love: Comfort Food That Hugs You.

She is an accomplished television personality who hosted the award-winning daytime program The Chew and is a trained chef who has worked in several professional restaurant kitchens in and around Washington.

Mgido founder of Jackie Mgido Cosmetics  is famed for working with Hollywood stars such as Denzel Washington, Sylvester Stallone, Snoop Dogg and Jammie Fox, among others. She has now extended her craft into the Hollywood Kitchen.

Mgido said food has become a big thing in Hollywood and she and her team under the makeup department are currently running eight or more shows on Food Network as makeup artistes.

“Right now in Hollywood food is a big thing, Chefs have become the biggest things out there so I pretty much work with people like Guy Fieri, Duff Goldman, Hall, Allex Guarnaschelli, there are a lot of them,” she said.

“Most of the shows on Food Network, a lot of the competitions where my department runs the shows, we have more than eight to nine shows that are going on at the same time.

“I run the makeup department and I help employ the people that are under me.”

Mgido said her aim is to make women in the make-up industry see that it is not only about weddings as they should aim to go international with the craft.

“We want international stars to come here and we need to go international with this craft as a nation,” she said.

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